Prosecutors seek life in jail for Aussie drug suspect
Prosecutors seek life in jail for Aussie drug suspect
Wahjoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar
Denpasar prosecutors demanded on Thursday that an Australian
woman be jailed for life for attempting to smuggle a large
quantity of marijuana onto the resort island of Bali.
The demand, which came after intense diplomatic pressure from
the Australian government, was less than the death penalty the
prosecutors could have sought.
Prosecutor Ida Bagus Wiswantanu, who read out the demand, said
that defendant Schapelle Leigh Corby had without doubt violated
the law on narcotics and must be punished accordingly.
The 27-year-old defendant was arrested in October after
customs officers at Denpasar airport found 4.1 kilograms of
marijuana in her unlocked bodyboard bag during a routine X-ray.
She had just arrived on a flight from Brisbane via Sydney.
"We demand the Denpasar District Court declare the defendant
guilty of importing class one narcotics into Indonesian
territory," said prosecutor Wiswantanu.
Besides the life sentence, the prosecutors also demanded Corby
be fined Rp 100 million (US$10,460).
The former beauty student wept as the demand was translated
into English. She repeatedly claimed the trial was unfair, while
hugging her lawyers and sister Mercedes, who attended the hearing
with Corby's friends and other relatives.
Earlier, Corby claimed she was unfit to appear in court, at
which two hearings were postponed.
The case has grabbed the headlines in the Australian media
and, in an unprecedented move, the Australian appealed to the
Indonesian court not to seek the death penalty. It has also
requested that, if convicted, Corby be allowed to serve her
prison sentence in Australia. Asked by local journalists why
prosecutors sought only a life sentence, prosecutor Wiswantanu
remained silent and walked away.
The trial was adjourned until next week to hear the defense's
response.
In a separate development, a senior police officer said on the
same day that Bali Police had named nine Australian citizens
suspects for allegedly smuggling 10.5 kilograms of heroin into
Bali. The nine people were arrested on Sunday.
Bali Police narcotics chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang Sugiharto
said the nine people had been named suspects after questioning.
Bambang quoted several suspects as saying that the suspects had
agreed to take the drug out of Bali only after pressure from
Andrew Chan, whom they claimed called the shots.
They claimed that Chan would kill them and their families if
they refused to take the drug from Bali to Sydney, Australia.
Chan was one of the nine arrested on Sunday.
Bambang said that the police would continue to investigate the
case further.